But both sides soon have more on their minds as they’re under attack by the Tao Tei, bloodthirsty lizard monsters of legend from the nearby mountains that rouse themselves to attack every 60 years. At the Great Wall, they’re captured by an army of border guards called the Nameless Order, overseen by General Shao (Zhang Hanyu) and Commander Lin Mae (Jing Tian). Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal (“Game of Thrones,” “Narcos”) are William Garin and Pero Tovar, respectively, two mercenaries from the West who are in medieval China to hunt for the secret “black powder” (gunpowder) they’ve heard so much about.
But because the filmmakers - the story and screenplay are credited to a team that includes Max Brooks (“World War Z”), Ed Zwick (“The Last Samurai”), Tony Gilroy (“The Bourne Identity”) and Carlo Bernard (“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”) - seemed to have an eye on the worldwide box-office, “The Great Wall,” despite its title and setting, is a made-by-committee monster movie that could have come from anywhere. This CGI-constructed “Great Wall,” with its $150 million budget and Hollywood connections, is the most expensive film ever made in China. His fans will have to cherish those memories though, as his first English-language film, “The Great Wall,” puts his many talents in the service of compromise, global marketing, misguided star power, and 3-D glasses.